The underlying mystery of Riverdale — which sees a new episode airing tonight (February 16) at 9PM on The CW — involves the murder of Jason Blossom, and by the season finale we will know who it happened to be. Interestingly, though, one actor from the show told us on a recent set visit that he thought his character might be the culprit — and we may note that he doesn’t necessarily say that it wasn’t the case.
That particular character would be Jughead Jones, as played by Cole Sprouse. And as you’ll see in tonight’s new Riverdale episode “Chapter Four: The Last Picture Show,” Jughead doesn’t have a very sweet life.
“From the very beginning, I have thought Jughead was the killer,” Cole told KSiteTV as well as two other reporters at the same interview table. “That was informed by a bunch of different things, and the narrative still rings true. Roberto [Aguirre-Sacasa] wrote Afterlife with Archie in which Jughead was the antagonist and in this dark version of the universe as well, Jughead had a shifty, outsider perspective. He’s also the only one that speaks to the audience and break fourth wall, which gives him the ability to inform the audience that he’s the killer without having to inform any of the cast living in Riverdale, which ends up being a kind of dubious position to take. I’m not going to spoil too much but that’s where I had planted myself from the very beginning;the notion that Jughead was some sort of creepy kid,” he explained.
Sprouse also explained Jughead’s motivations for having interest in Jason Blossom’s murder, even if he doesn’t turn out to be the killer. “The way that I had read Jughead is that he really considers himself to be a special snowflake,” Sprouse expanded. “I think anyone who takes a stance as the observer and the watcher and someone who can write ‘objectively’ about other people fashions themselves not with a superiority complex to to speak but at least with this idea that they are qualified to do so, which complicates where Jughead stands. I also think he’s one of those guys who would much quicker criticize someone else’s moral complex than point the fingers at himself. I think he judges and he builds his own personality based on how other people act within the town.”
“Including himself within the narrative of Jason Blossom’s murder is really an exercise in self for Jughead, but he has a personal stake in it as well. He’s a member of this small town that’s deeply interwoven with this tragedy and so aside from a personal stake, and across the latter half of the season and really from episode 7 onward, you find out that Jughead has a tremendous stake in Jason Blossom’s murder case and it really ends up getting revealed over time,” he continued.
“The Last Picture Show” airs tonight at 9PM ET/PT on The CW. You can find some preview images here. Be sure to come back to KSiteTV after the show for the fourth episode of our Archie Digest Riverdale podcast!
Also, here’s a preview clip:
